Weather-strip for doors.



H. BAUER.

WEATHER STRIP FOR moons.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2311913- Patented July 6, 1915.

* w ii; i w i WEATHER-STRIP FOR DOORS.

menace.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July '16, 1215..

Application filed June 23, 1913. Serial at. 775,406.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY BAUER, a citizen of the United States, falo,in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Weather-Strips for Doors, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to weather strips for doors, and more particularlyto that type in which. the strip proper moves automatically in contactwith the floor upon closing the door to which it is applied.

The invention has for its object the provision of a weather strip of thetype mentioned which is simple inconstruction, inexpensive and durableand in which projecting parts are dispensed with so that there is noliability of clothing being caught in passing through the door opening.

To this end the invention consists in the novel features of constructionand in the combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafterdescribed and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing in which like-numerals of reference refer to like parts,Figure 1 is an elevation of the lower portion of a door and the walladjoining, the lower end of the door and a part of the door casing beingbroken away to illustrate the invention;

v the door being shown closed with the end of the door. Fig. 6 is adetached perspective view of the i y such point.

ater 13v 7 j weather strip proper in contact with the floor. Fig. 2 is asimilar view of the door showing the position of the parts when the dooris ajar. Fig. 3is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 3- 5,Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a detached perspective view of one of the metallicguide members'secured in the lower Fig. 5 is a perspective view of aportion of the weather stripproper.

actuator.

The reference numeral 7 designates a wall, 8 the door and 9 thedoor-jamb to which the door is hinged. The door is provided with alongitudinal groove or recess 10 at its lower edge which has thatendadjacent the unhinged vertical edge of the door closed, as at 11, thewall of the groove or recess at said end bein inclined so thatsuflicient material of the adoor remains to assure durability andstrength at The opposite end of said groove or reces 12, to allowfreedom in, action of an, aotu residing at Buf'.

sj. is increased in depth, as at s 14 designates two guide members whichare fitted into the groove or recess 10 at points between its ends, saidguide members being spaced apart and each being of channel shape toprovide an inner wall 15 which bears against the inner wall of saidgroove or recess and side walls 16 which lie against the side walls ofsaid. groove or recess.

Each of these guide members has also opposite lateral webs or extensions17 which bear against the lower edge of the door, being preferablyrecessed therein and secured by screws. These guide members, by reasonof their construction and manner of securing them to the door can bemade of light sheet metal, and the side walls 16 of each are providedwith alined obliquely-disposed guide slots 18 formed by slitting themetal and bending webs 19 outwardly therefrom, which webs are rangedalong the upper edges of the slots and serve as hearing pieces whichprovide extended contact faces.

The weather strip proper is designated by the reference numeral 20 andconsists of a longitudinal wooden or other suitable bodyportion 21 of asize in cross section to freely fit into and move within the groove orrecess 10 and within the guide members 14: and of a length to extendalmost from one vertical edge of the door to the other. This strip isgrooved along its lower edge to receive a yielding contact element 22 offelt or any other suitable material, said contact element pro ectingbeyond the lower edge of said strip and adapted to be' brought intocontact with the floor when the door is closed'so as to close the spacebetween the two, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.-

The end of the weather strip proper adjacent the unhinged vertical edgeof the door is inclined, as at 23, to correspond to the inclined wall ofthe groove or recess 10 at that point and preferably bears against saidinclined wall, and attention is directed to the fact that theinclination of the wall of said groove or recess and that of said stripis at the same angle as the guide slots 18.

Passing through the weather strip are pins 2 1- which project fromopposite sides thereof and enter the guide slots 18 in the guide-members14, said pins being adapted to move in contact with the webs 19 of saidmembers. By exerting pressure lengthwise on.- the Weatherstrip in thedirection 9 t e guided by its inclined end and the pins 24.

arrow in Fig. 2, it is moved toward the unhinged vertical edge of thedoor and also toward the floor, a lengthwise movement with a componentdownward movement is therefore obtained, due to the strip being Thepower to actuate the weather strip proper is obtained throughtheactuator 13 which is slidable in the enlarged portion 12 of thegroove or recess 10, said actuator comprising a yoke or frame 26 havinga longitudinal member 27, parallel arms 28 depend-.

ing from opposite ends of member 27 and an actuator member 29 inclinedin opposite direction to the slots in the guide members 14, saidactuator member entering a similarly inclined slot 30 in the weatherstrip 20. To increase the durability of the device I preferably providea metallic member 31' in which the slot 30 referred to is formed, saidmember being recessed into the body por tion of the weather strip andsecured thereto by screws or otherwise.

Extending through the arms 28 of the actuator yoke or frame is a rod 32,said rod being threadingly engaged with said arms 7 so that it may beadjusted therein, for a V edge of the door and closing the inner end 35.i I

of the groove or recess. 10.

Secured to the door j amb 9 is a metal wear plate 37, which is desirablein use but not necessary and the rear end of the actuator rod 32 isadapted to bear against said wear plate, or in the absence of thelatter, against the jamb proper, which the wear plate may i beconsideredpart of when used.

Interposed between the shoulder 38,

formed bytheincreased depth of the groove or recess 10, and'the forwardarm' 33 of the actuator yoke or frame is a spiral spring 39 whichsurrounds the forward portion of the actuator rod 32 and serves to forceand hold said rod and the yoke or. frame carried thereby in its rearmostposition with the rear end projecting or tending to project j beyond theouter face of the guide plate 36, depending on whether the door is openor closed. By reason of the connection of the actuator with the weatherstrip the latter is drawn rearward with the actuator and moves upwardwhen the actuator is in its rearward position, which position it isallowedvto assume when the rear projecting end of the actuator rod 32finds no obstruction to its movement, such as the door j amb,

and since" in opening the door the hinged edge thereof moves away fromthe j amb and out of opposition thereto, saidirod is forced outward bthe spring 39. When, however,

the door is closed, the hinged edge thereof is swung toward and inopposed relation to the door jamb, which causes the actuator to moveforward against the counteracting efforts of spring 39, and by reason ofthe actuator member 29 being entered in the slot 30 in the weatherstrip, the latter is caused to move forward and downward, therebyclosing the space between the lower edge of the door and the floor.During this action the actuator member 29 slides outwardly in slot 30and in contact with the lower wall of said slot, while when the actuatormoves rearwardly, member 29 thereof slides inwardly in said slot and incontact with the upper wall thereof.

If it is found that the door cannot easily close for the reason that theweather strip has too soon come in contact with the floor, the actuatorrod 32 may be adjusted in its yoke or frame to diminish the length ofprojection beyond the hinged edge of the door, and if, when the door isshut, it is found that the space between the lower edge of the door andthe fioor is not fully closed, said actuator rod may be adjusted toincrease the extent of projection necessary. In this manner, the weatherstrip is adjusted for wear and also for diflerent sizes of spacesbetween doors and floors. In order to effect an adjustment of theactuator rod it is only necessary to revolve the same to the right orleft within the actuator yoke or frame, as may be required.

I have herein resorted to the use of the expressions rearwardly andforwardly and the like as a convenient manner of expressing directionrelative to the hinged and unhinged vertical edges of the door, it beingmy intention to consider the unhinged vertical edge of door the forwardedge and the hin ed edge of the rear edge.

aving thus described my invention, what I' claim is,

1. In a weather strip for the bottoms of doors, the combination with adoor havin a longitudinal groove in its lower edge, 0% a longitudinalstrip guided in said groove for combined forward and downward and foropposite movements, said longitudinal stri having a rearwardly anddownwardly directed slot in its upper edge adjacent its rear end, anactuator comprislng a yoke having a downwardly and rearwardly inclinedactuator member entering said slot, a rod threaded into opposite ends ofsaid yoke for adjustment therein and having its rear end projecting fromthe rear or hinged edge of the door for engagement with a door j amb,and its front end guided for movement and a spring acting against saidactuator to hold said rod projected and said longitudinal strip raisedwhen the door is open, said longitudinal strip being lowered to extendfrom the groove of said door and said rod being menses W forcedforwardly against the action of said a rearwardly and downwardlyinclined. ao-

spring when the door isolosed. tuator member entered in the slot of said20 2. In a weather strip for closing the botlongitudinal strip, said rodhaving opposite toms of doors, the combination of a door ends guided formovement, respectively, in

5. having a longitudinal groove in its lower a bore extending forwardlyfrom said shouledge enlarged in depth at its rear end to deer and in theplate secured to the rear or provide a shoulder, a plate secured to thehinged edge of said door, said rod rojeot 25 rear or hinged edge of saiddoor, a longimg rearwardly beyond said plate or con tudinal stripguidedin said groove for com tact with a door jamb, and a spring surio binedforward and downward movement rounding said rod and bearing at one endand for reverse movement, said strip having against said shoulder and atits other end a downwardly and rearwardly directed slot against saidyoke. 0 in its upper edge near its rear end, an ac- In testimony whereofI afix my signature tuator in the enlarged part of said groove inpresence of two witnesses. 15 consisting of a yoke and a rod passingHENRY BAUER.

through said yoke, said yoke comprising a Witnesses: lon 'tudinalmember, depending arms at op- EMIL NEUHART,

posite ends of said longltudinal member and JAooB OBERST, Jr.

